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Newbie requesting advice

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Juansito

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 19, 2009
Messages
14

Greetings to the Pricescope Community,



I have been lurking in the forums for a while now and have learned a great deal about diamonds thanks to all of you and for that I am grateful. I will soon be purchasing a diamond for an e-ring and would like to ask a few questions.



My Plan:
Ct
Cut excellent>
Color
Clarity
Budget: ~$10 - 10.5K

I have specked out a number of diamonds on Bluenile, , WhiteFlash, etc. and have located a number of stones with these specks and narrowed them down by predicted performance on HCA calculator. For the most part these parameters yield stones slightly over budget when taxes are added.
For a while I had wanted a G color stone with VS1 clarity with an Ideal or excellent cut, but after reading a bit more I decided to go with H and VS1.

Qs:
1) I am wondering if going down on clarity to a VS2 to bring the stone into the budget would be advisable? I am a bit hesitant as my reading has alerted me to the concept of an "eye-clean" diamond and I am worried that a VS2 would be less likely to be "eye-clean" compared to a VS1 (especially when buying online where visual inspection before purchase is not an option)

2) Also, is the H color significantly different from a G? Should I opt for a G-VS2 instead of an H-VS1? Though I have noted that the former tends to be a more expensive combination.



3) Is my budget unreasonable? I would like a stone that is somewhere near 1.5Ct and am considering stones in the 1.4 - 1.49 range though I have not noted much in the way of savings from the smaller stones when number and location of inclusions and predicted HCA scores are taken into account.



Any help will be appreciated.



-Juan
 

pr1204

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 16, 2009
Messages
10
Hi, I am by no means an expert but I can share with you my experience. I bought from a b&m store, and didn''t really consider online because I wanted to see the diamond up close before spending that much money. That said, I found a reliable jeweler that did their best to educate me and had a great selection. I ended up going with a 1.80 ct, H, SI2 that was eye-clean, and had only relatively minimal white inclusions. It was rated excellent cut by GIA, and grades a 0.7 on the HCA. Overall, I paid 10,500 for the stone...I think it was a good deal.

Hope that helps.
 

stone-cold11

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Sep 9, 2008
Messages
14,083
Date: 4/19/2009 11:29:01 PM
Author:Juansito

Greetings to the Pricescope Community,


1) I am wondering if going down on clarity to a VS2 to bring the stone into the budget would be advisable? I am a bit hesitant as my reading has alerted me to the concept of an 'eye-clean' diamond and I am worried that a VS2 would be less likely to be 'eye-clean' compared to a VS1 (especially when buying online where visual inspection before purchase is not an option)

2) Also, is the H color significantly different from a G? Should I opt for a G-VS2 instead of an H-VS1? Though I have noted that the former tends to be a more expensive combination.



3) Is my budget unreasonable? I would like a stone that is somewhere near 1.5Ct and am considering stones in the 1.4 - 1.49 range though I have not noted much in the way of savings from the smaller stones when number and location of inclusions and predicted HCA scores are taken into account.



Any help will be appreciated.


-Juan

Almost all VS2 are eye-clean, a large number of SI1s are eye-clean also. A trusted vendor can determine if one of their stone is eye-clean for you. BlueNile is iffy in the SI1's eye-clean check, their eye-clean stone is sometime not eye-clean.

H is not visibly different from G for me but everyone's color sensitivity is different. Check out this link, http://vimeo.com/3288695, but note that it is taken with a camera and also your screen's display setting might be different. Or go to a Jared store, they sell AGS0 stones, look and compare the color of those stone, Ideal cut stones show much less color face-up.

About inclusions, do not go by the plot on the report, eye-clean SI1 can look scary on the clarity plot but a almost clean plot SI1 might not be eye-clean. As before, go with a trusted vendor's advice on eye-cleanliness.
 

Lorelei

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
42,064
Date: 4/19/2009 11:29:01 PM
Author:Juansito


Greetings to the Pricescope Community,





I have been lurking in the forums for a while now and have learned a great deal about diamonds thanks to all of you and for that I am grateful. I will soon be purchasing a diamond for an e-ring and would like to ask a few questions.





My Plan:
Ct <~1.5>
Cut <Ideal/Excellent>
Color <H>
Clarity <VS1>
Budget: ~$10 - 10.5K



I have specked out a number of diamonds on Bluenile, <Banned Vendor>, WhiteFlash, etc. and have located a number of stones with these specks and narrowed them down by predicted performance on HCA calculator. For the most part these parameters yield stones slightly over budget when taxes are added.
For a while I had wanted a G color stone with VS1 clarity with an Ideal or excellent cut, but after reading a bit more I decided to go with H and VS1.



Qs:
1) I am wondering if going down on clarity to a VS2 to bring the stone into the budget would be advisable? I am a bit hesitant as my reading has alerted me to the concept of an 'eye-clean' diamond and I am worried that a VS2 would be less likely to be 'eye-clean' compared to a VS1 (especially when buying online where visual inspection before purchase is not an option) VS2 if reliably lab graded* should* be eyeclean in the majority of circumstances however we have had folk who have found VS2 to not be eyeclean to their standards, and visions vary. So the best thing is to check with the vendor, if you don't want to see any visible inclusions from any angle at close scrutiny then make sure you tell the vendor that so you are both on the same page.



2) Also, is the H color significantly different from a G? Should I opt for a G-VS2 instead of an H-VS1? Though I have noted that the former tends to be a more expensive combination. I have compared these colour grades in person although not quite so large, and no I notice no difference between the two ( if reliably lab graded). G VS2 could be a good choice, however H colour should still be very white, it depends on your preferences.





3) Is my budget unreasonable? I would like a stone that is somewhere near 1.5Ct and am considering stones in the 1.4 - 1.49 range though I have not noted much in the way of savings from the smaller stones when number and location of inclusions and predicted HCA scores are taken into account. You should be able to find something for that price give or take a bit.





Any help will be appreciated.





-Juan
And welcome to Pricescope Juan
35.gif
 

Juansito

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 19, 2009
Messages
14
Thank you all for your valuable advice. I think I''ve narrowed it down to 3 stones. Will ask for opinions and post specs on separate thread.

-Juan
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